The Arizona sentinel., 1887-09-03
IN A BUTTON FACTORY.
What Brooklyn Reporter Saw in Visi
 to One of Them.


 What a Brooklyn Reporter Saw in Visit to One of Them.
 A single button is an insignificant thing and in money value doesn't t amount to much, but when it is stated that in the five establishments devoted to button making in this city there is a capital of S250, 900 invested, it is safe to say that the business is cOnsidera- ble. Walking through Tiffany place, in the Sixth ward, my attention was at tracted to one of these factories. I had never seen button made and, in fact, this was the nearest I ever had been to a place of the kind, and for the pur- pose of improving the opportunity l commenced climbing two flights of stairs that are as steep as those leading to Miss Liberty s lofty perch on Bedloe's Island; but once inside the factory the climbing of the steps was forgotten, as ! the picture before me was full of inter est. There were about twenty girls at work making or painting buttons. The power, drop and foot presses were in constant motion. In making metal buttons the sheet is first taken and put through the power press which turns out more shells in a minute than would fill a bushel basket. These almost shapeless bits of brass or whatever the material may be. are then carried over to the drop, which falls on them with heavy thud, and the tiny things of future use come out of it with a rim formed around the shell. The eye maker is then put in use, and next machine called the closer is called upon to perform its duty and the but ton is finished except in color, which looks dull yellow, but this is reme- died, and the metal buttons show their brightness by being put through burning process in acid jars, which re- semble ice-cream freeZers. Then they are cooled off in running water and taken to the stamp press, which turns quickly, and out they come with the name of the maker stamped in the shell part. There are made in these establishments a thousand different varieties of metal buttons, mostly for women's wear. Some are handsome to look at and others are not but all go through the same process of manu- featuring. The fancy buttons are taken to the painters, whose nimble fingers are continually busy while put ting on the finishing touches. In making cloth buttons a man has ten layers of material before him from out of which, by hand work, he punches the same number of what are called toughs at one time and the whole operation works like a flash of lightning, so quick is the operation performed. The toughs are then taken alongside the shells. where one of the work-women attempted to show me how a cloth button was made and finished, but while listening to the ex- planation of the work by the young lady, the button was ready to go on the card and be shipped for Europe or anywhere else. She merely placed the cloth or tough in the closing ma chine and the eye in the tube, after which the two were connected and a delicate movement of the foot did the rest, as the shell, eye and tough were united and the cloth button was com pleted. Glove, shoe and all other kinds of buttons are manufactured in the same way. I was shown a cloth shoe button that at one time was patented and a capital of S100, 900 invested in its manufacture. In another factory my attention was called to metal button that will, when thoroughly known, do away with needle and thread. It is fastened in the article of clothing by self locking machine that is as cunning as it is simple.
 The work of button-making seems to be light and cleanly, but I am sorry to say that few of the women toilers are ever likely to become millionaires while following the industry, as their weekly wages seldom go over seven dollars, while more often the reward for their labor is a great deal less, running down as low as two dollars, and averaging. the year round, five dollars per week; but as Brooklyn buttons go everywhere on the face of the earth and the business is yet in its infancy, so to speak, it may be that in time the bosses will be able to pay higher rate of wages while making more money themselves. At any rate, button factories are something that the gen eral public knows very little about, and a visit to any one of those establish ments would prove not only profitable but highly interesting to those of an inquiring turn of mind. Brooklyn Eagle.
 There is a negro man living near Coleman, Ga, who is the father of thirty-four children. He is eighty four years old. has his third wife with q ha ba at baI, braost and ic as active l